Sticky sapote and mandarin pudding 

If you haven’t used the local sapote before, ask when you are buying them how to tell when they will be nice and soft and ripe. The best way of separating the pulp from its thin skin is to cut fruit in half, scoop out the central seeds and their surrounding fibre, then carefully scoop out the black shiny flesh. You will need one large or two medium sapote for this recipe, and 1-2 mandarins depending on size and juiciness. If the mandarins have a thin skin, put them in the freezer for ½ hour before trying to grate the zest.

60 gm butter

4 tblspns golden syrup

¼ cup caster sugar

1 egg

1 heaped tblspn finely grated mandarin zest 

1 cup mandarin juice

¾ cup black sapote pulp, mashed well

1 cup self-raising flour

Preheat oven to 190C conventional (180C fan-forced). Melt butter and 1 tblspn of the golden syrup together (the rest of the golden syrup is used in the sauce later). Add the caster sugar and mix well. Add the egg and mix well again. Add the mandarin zest, sapote pulp, flour and ¼ cup of the mandarin juice and mix until well-combined and smooth. Spread batter evenly in a greased 1.5 litre casserole dish (not too shallow). Heat the remaining 3 tblspns of the golden syrup until runny, then add the remaining ¾ cup mandarin juice and mix well. Pour or spoon this liquid mixture carefully over batter (I pour it down the side of the dish).  It doesn’t matter if you get a few blobs of the batter floating in the sauce at this stage but try and not disturb the batter too much. Place the pudding dish in a shallow baking tray or dish that you have part-filled 2cm deep with hot water. Carefully place the double dish in the oven and bake for an hour (cake part will have shrunk away from side of dish and springs back when lightly pressed in centre). Serve hot with your choice/combination of ice-cream, cream, custard or yoghurt. Can be re-heated in microwave. Serves 6.

Corn and fish soup

I am a big fan of local corn on the cob and it is definitely worth the effort for this fish soup. I prefer to buy the corn whole with husk leaves and part of the bottom stalk still on, and then cook it in the microwave in a shallow dish with a bit of water in it for 5-10 minutes until kernels are soft (peel back some of the husk leaves and see if you can easily remove a kernel with a fork). Cool a little then whilst holding on to the bottom stalk, peel back the husk leaves and silk (carefully as steam will be escaping), then cut the kernels off the co

1 large brown onion, sliced

Olive oil

2 large corn cobs

3 cups chicken or fish stock

1 cup milk

300gm raw soft-fleshed fish in bite-sized pieces

½ cup finely grated parmesan cheese

½ cup finely chopped chives or parsley

Pepper and salt to taste

Sauté the onions in a small amount of oil over low heat for about 10-15 minutes till golden brown and soft. Cook the corn cobs and remove kernels, add to onion with I cup of the stock and cook together for another 5 minutes. Puree with a stick blender or in a food processor then return to saucepan with the rest of the stock. Bring to the boil then add milk, bring gently back to boil then add fish and cheese and cook for a couple of minutes over low heat till fish is just cooked. Add chives or parsley, then salt and pepper to taste, and serve. Serves 4-6 as a light meal.

Chilli jam

Quantities to make 1 medium jar:

25 whole long red chillies

200gm white or brown onions (about 2 medium)

4 large cloves garlic

½ cup light olive oil or light vegetable oil

2 tblspns tamarind paste/puree (available at supermarkets and Asian food stores)

2 tblspns sugar

½ tspn salt

1 cup water

Remove stems from chillies. Using a food processor if possible, chop the chillies finely and cook in the oil in a frying pan over medium heat for about 5 minutes till starting to brown a little. Finely chop the onions and garlic  in the processor and add to the chillies and lower the heat to gently cook until the onions are golden and soft. Add the tamarind paste, sugar and salt, then carefully add the water (may spit a little) then stir to thoroughly combine. Cook gently for about 40 minutes, preferably with the pan lid on, stirring frequently, until mix is quite sticky and the mix looks a deep red with a brownish tinge (bit hard to describe!). If it catches a little on the pan don’t worry as this helps caramelise the mix: just give it a good stir. If it dries out too much, carefully add a little more water. Cool, then put in a clean glass jar, pour a small amount of oil on top to cover the surface. Keeps well in the fridge for a couple of months.

Silverbeet on toast

Ingredients for 2 people:

2 stalks silverbeet, leaves only

2-3 tblspns olive oil

1 clove garlic, crushed or finely chopped

2-3 anchovy fillets

Pepper

2 eggs, poached or fried

2 pieces bread or muffin halves, toasted

Chop or tear the silverbeet leaves into smallish pieces. Heat olive oil in a wide saucepan or frying pan. Add garlic and anchovies and stir while sautéing very briefly until the anchovies start to break up. Quickly add the silverbeet leaves and toss to coat with the oil mix. Cover for about half a minute so that the silverbeet steams up then stir again. If the silverbeet is not soft then cover for another half a minute. Pile silverbeet on toast and top with egg and plenty of pepper.

Vegetable Pikelets

These savoury pikelets are great for a picnic, a long road trip, for the lunchbox, or with soup as a change from toast or bread. They’re also a great way to use up leftover vegetables and children seem to like the bright colours. The combinations I’ve used for the 3 varieties in the photo are pumpkin with chives; beetroot, onion, garlic and parsley; spinach, broccoli, lemon juice and basil.

¾ cup self-raising flour (white or wholemeal)

Pinch salt

Pepper to taste

1 tspn baking powder

¼ tspn bicarb soda

1 egg

1 cup mashed/pureed cooked vegetables

Finely chopped herbs to taste, optional

4 tblspns grated tasty cheese

About ½ cup milk

Sift dry ingredients into a bowl. Add egg, vegetables, herbs, cheese and ¼ cup of the milk. Mix well. Add enough of the rest of the milk so that the consistency of the mix is like yoghurt (drops easily off the spoon into a blob but is not runny). Set the mix aside for 15-20 minutes. Heat large frying pan or electric frypan to medium heat and grease lightly with butter or oil. Drop spoonfuls of mix into pan and cook until small bubbles appear and pop on surface of the pikelet, flip pikelet over and cook until slightly browned on both sides. Makes about 12 medium pikelets. Serve warm or cold, with or without butter.